[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TheCowboys_8436.jpg]]Wil Anderson (JohnWayne) of the Double O Ranch has a herd of cattle he needs to [[CattleDrive get to market before winter]]. Unfortunately, all the able-bodied and available men have run off to join a nearby gold rush. His friend, Anse Peterson (Slim Pickens) convinces him that he could hire local schoolboys. Initially reluctant, Anderson is eventually forced to go with the idea. He ends up with 11 boys between the ages of 9 and 15. Joining them on the drive is Jebediah "Jeb" Nightlinger (Roscoe Lee Browne), their CampCook, and the first black man the boys have ever seen.

The boys learn quickly to do a man's job, but the group is being followed by a gang of ruthless rustlers....

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!! This show provides examples of:* AnyoneCanDie: Including children and [[spoiler:John Wayne himself]].* BadassBoast: This, from Jebediah Nightlinger (said while he's tied up and about to be lynched):-->'''Nightlinger:''' "I regret trifling with married women. I'm thoroughly ashamed at cheating at cards. I deplore my occasional departures from the truth. Forgive me for taking your name in vain, my Saturday drunkenness, my Sunday sloth. Above all, forgive me for the men I've killed in anger..." (looks directly at Asa Watts) ...'''''and those I am about to'''''."* BadassGrandpa: [[JohnWayne Wil Anderson]], of course.* BittersweetEnding* CampCook: Nightlinger* CattleDrive* ComingOfAgeStory* DroppedGlasses* ImprobableAge* LetsGetDangerous: The boys reactions to the death of [[JohnWayne Wil Anderson]].* LoopholeAbuse: Wil draws a line on the school blackboard and says anyone shorter than it shouldn't come on the drive. What he doesn't know is that just before he came in, the teacher raised the board a few inches so the kids at the back could see it, and when he leaves they just lower it back down.* MentorOccupationalHazard: Andersen.* MissKitty: At one point the boys encounter a group of what Nightlinger calls "{{soiled dove}}s". Naturally, they have their madam with them.* PayEvilUntoEvil* ARealManIsAKiller: One of the more controversial bits of the movie. Though the film does seem a bit cynical about it.** The way Anderson recruits young boys to serve on the cattle drive reminded critics of how young men were getting drafted into the VietnamWar.* SacrificialLion: Andersen. Charlie too, though it's Andersen's, actually brought about by Watts, which motivates them to take action.* StutterStop: One of the boys on the cattle drive wasn't able to warn them of danger due to a stuttering problem. Wil Anderson (Wayne's character) proceeds to give him a brutal tongue-lashing, and the boy stutteringly calls Anderson a "s-s-s-s-s-son-uh-uh-uh-of-a-buh-buh-bitch". Anderson then continues to antagonize the boy until the youth explodes into a verbal tirade of completely stutter-free profanity. Anderson then calmly congratulates him on getting over his stutter, and warns the boy to not get used to cursing at him like that. The boy never stutters once for the rest of the film.* TeamDad: Anderson* TeamMom: Nightlinger* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior* WouldHurtAChild: He doesn't actually follow through, but Asa Watts, the leader of the rustlers, makes it pretty clear he has no qualms about it.